Withdrawal, But That’s Not All

Ok, it’s possible I might be trying a little too hard to come up with clever post titles, but I’ll let you be the judge. On to Judah news…

Today was okay. Judah threw up multiple times during the night and morning. This lead the doctors to decide to try an ND-tube (nasoduodenal). This is very similure to the NG-tube (nasogastric) he has had in for a while now. The difference is that the NG-tube goes through the nose and into the stomach and ND-tube goes through the nose, past the stomach and into the first part of the small intestine. Yesterday, they thought the reason for his throwing up was strictly because of morphine withdrawal. He had the rest of the symptoms (constantly upset, diarrhea, sweating) that led the doctors to this conclusion. However, last night and today he did not show those same symptoms. Around the time he starting throwing up they increased how much food he was getting and also the amount of calories in his “formula”. Now, they believe that the cause of his vomiting is a combination of withdrawal and his stomach not being able to handle the amount and content of what they were giving him. With bypassing the stomach, this should help him get the amount of calories and nutrients he needs to grow. They have also adjusted his meds to help him with any withdrawal he’s going through. He still has the NG-tube (that goes to his stomach) through his other nostril because one of the medicines he’s getting is best absorbed by the stomach. He’ll be done with the course of medication in a few days and be able to just have the ND-tube in.

They have also started to (very slowly) wean him off the breathing tube. This will be a day-by-day thing they will monitor. There’s no word on when they would remove the tube altogether. It really depends on him.

Prayer requests:

that Judah would be able to get through any withdrawal and the ND-tube would keep him from any more vomiting

that he would be able to rest and grow (he is visibly exhausted and has actually lost a little weight)

that his lungs would continue to gain strength and he would be able to breathe on his own, and that the doctors would have wisdom in deciding when he should be extubated

We continue to pray and believe for healing to flow through Judah’s body and for the grace to walk through life until that day comes. Thank you all so much for believing with us!

UPDATE:
Just as I finished writing this blog Judah threw up again. The hope was that with the ND-tube this wouldn’t be happening. One of the possible reasons is that he cries a lot, and when he does that he swallows a lot of air. The air fills his stomach and pushes up on his diaphragm, which makes the body react in vomiting. One of the solutions is putting in a larger NG-tube and using it to suck out the air that’s in his stomach. Nothing will really change until the morning when the doctors make their rounds. Please pray for a calm night with no more vomiting and that God would give the doctors wisdom as to what to do next. Please keep us in prayer as well, it’s been very difficult to watch him have to go through so much over the past few weeks and days.